Plasticized electrohydraulic robot autopilots in the deep sea

Soft robots, with their compliant bodies, minimal environmental disturbance, and ability to withstand ambient pressures, offer promising solutions for deep-sea exploration. However, a common challenge of stiffening in soft materials impairs their effective actuation in harsh conditions. In this work, we integrated a liquid dielectric plasticizer within an electrohydraulic soft robot, serving dual critical functions as a softening agent to maintain the softness of the polymer shell and an electrohydraulic fluid for efficient actuation. Additionally, by utilizing the surrounding seawater as alternating electrodes, we prevented charge retention in dielectric layers, enabling sustained actuation performance. Field tests at depths of ~1360 meters, 3176 meters, and ~4071 meters confirmed the robot’s ability to sense the environment, navigate complex trajectories, and locomotor capabilities to withstand unsteady disturbances. Our work offers a generalized and straightforward framework for..., , # Plasticized electrohydraulic robot autopilots in the deep sea

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.wm37pvn0t](10.5061/dryad.wm37pvn0t)

*Corresponding author emails
Guorui Li: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])
Tiefeng Li [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

## Description of the data and file structure

### Files and variables

#### File: data_of_Fig.2B.xlsx

**Description:** Data of the DMA testing results of PE films and those immersed for 48 hours in FR3, dimethyl-silicone oil, and PAO.

##### Variables

* PE，Silicon oil-PE，FR3-PE，PAO-PE，Temperature[°C]，Young's modulus[Pa]

#### File: data_of_Fig.2I.xlsx

**Description:** Data of actuation characterization of actuators made of PAO with PE, FR3 with PE, and dimethyl-silicone oil with PE under various temperatures

##### Variables

* PAO, Silicon oil, FR3, Tempreture[°C], Actuation[deg], Standard deviation

#### File: data_of_Fig.2J.xlsx

**Description:** Data of actuation characterization of actuators made of P...,